Ivy League Professor Explores Implications of Moving US Embassy to Jerusalem
By: Tanya Nawas/Arab America Contributing Writer
On April 26, 2018, Host Helena Cobban and Journal of Palestine Studies Editor Rashid Khalidi explored Jerusalem as a microcosm of Palestine.
On May 14th, the newly confirmed US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, along with 250 American officials and 40 US Senators are expected to attend a ceremony inaugurating the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Still, Jerusalem remains a crucial issue for the attainment of a just peace between Israel and Palestine, even more so since the Trump administration has also decided to recognize it as Israel’s capital. To discuss the effect of moving the embassy to Jerusalem, The Institute of Palestine Studies (IPS) hosted a conversation between Rashid Khalidi, editor of IPS (also Edward Said Chair of Arab Studies at Columbia University), and Helena Cobban, president of Just World Education and former columnist on global affairs for new organizations, such as the Christian Science Monitor and BBC.
To set the tone, the IPS executive director, Julia Pitner, opened the event with a moment of silence for, (as of April 26th), the 39 killed and 5,000 injured Palestinian unarmed, nonviolent protesters by IDF soldiers in the most recent clash of Gaza border violence.
Pitner’s opening mentioned of the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, and how after 5 decades of seeming impunity, the Israeli occupation regime’s current violence against peaceful protesters on the Gaza border is evidence to the continued Nakba against Palestinians.
“In the news, we are seeing the wanton disregard for Palestinian life, as they seek recognition for their rights for promises that have been made,” Pitner stated. She continued by explaining that the present situation seems to be moving quickly since the major shift in US Policy toward Palestine.
“What does this shift mean for the Palestinians living in Jerusalem; what does it mean for Palestinian refugees and those living in the diaspora? Is Jerusalem at the center of what’s happening?” Pitner asked the audience as she turned the floor to her guest Professor Rashid Khalidi and Host Helena Cobban.
Professor Khalidi comes from a long line of Jerusalemites, who have been established in Jerusalem for centuries. His family has a street named after them, and Khalidi’s uncle was the last elected mayor of Jerusalem.
Presently, Khalidi still has family living in the city who preserve a family library first established by his grandfather in 1899. Members of the family have felt the effects of Israel’s choking presence by a newly Israeli built Yeshiva that is expanding above the family library, threatening its continued existence.
Needless to say, as a historian of the Middle East and author of many books on Palestine and Palestinian identity, Professor Khalidi is one of the most credible authorities to discuss the historical implications of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
When Cobban asked Khalidi what are the implications of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and how it will affect the peace process, Khalidi bluntly responded: “There is not now, and has not been for a very long time anything that could be legitimately be described as a peace process. There has been a process of deception to enable the maintenance and strengthening of the status quo of colonization and occupation. The United States has overseen that process, which was not directed at peace, or else we would have achieved peace in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s etc.” Still, Khalidi conceded that the implications of the move are “impossible to tell, but some of them are clear.”
First of all, Khalidi clarified, that the State Department’s new position on Jerusalem has officially sanctioned the annexation of East Jerusalem and the surrounding territories, expanding the city’s municipal borders and recognizing all of Jerusalem as sovereign Israeli territory. In other words, now, the US government will consider all of East Jerusalem as part of Israel and the Golan Heights. Historically, the city of Jerusalem has maintained a special international status, and as such, all international embassies in Israel have been traditionally based in Tel Aviv.
Khalidi asserts that the far-reaching implications of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem show clearly that the United States has blatantly stated that they no longer believe in international resolutions that they have already voted on and agreed to.
Khalidi is also quick to point out that exactly where the boundaries of this new Israeli frontier of expanding Jerusalem is still not clear and has not yet been defined. The implications are that it brings into question the issue of sovereignty to other occupied territories. Essentially, Khalidi states, Trump’s administration has taken a “radical and revolutionary” step in negating international law by unilaterally canceling binding partitions and resolutions pertaining to Jerusalem; for example, the UN General Assembly resolution 181 which gave Jerusalem a special international status.
Khalidi concluded that the United States has declared that the most important issue remaining between the Israelis and Palestinians, Jerusalem, is no longer negotiable and it is “off the table,” and has sided wholly in favor of Israel. However, Khalidi interjects that by the Trump bringing the issue of Jerusalem to the forefront, he has actually brought more attention to the issue, which may actually work in favor of the Palestinians.
When asked how satisfied he is with the Palestinian leadership’s strategy when dealing the Jerusalem issue, dating back to the Oslo Accords until today, Khalidi briefly stated, “Completely dissatisfied” and “much is needed to reverse the degradation of the PLO.” For example, Khalidi listed, “Ending the meaningless split between the factions among the Palestinian leadership, reinvigorating existing institutions, and coming up with a new strategy for the 21st century; all are necessary in order to restore Palestinian leadership.”
Khalidi emphasized, “The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not a government; the PA is not sovereign; the PA has no jurisdiction, legally;” and therefore, cannot do very much for the Palestinians they represent. The Palestinians need to establish leadership outside the occupied territories, a leadership whose movements are not determined and controlled by the Israeli government, Khalidi stressed.
Nevertheless, Khalidi sees hope and is encouraged by the changing direction of students and younger generations stance toward Palestine, and noted that students at Barnard College voted to divest from eight companies that “profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
A video of Khalidi’s remarks can be seen here: